Fifteen Years of Waiting for Migratory Birds

Chapter 3: Two other important players in our lives

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Two other important players in our lives

Li Meiqing was furious at Li Li's intentional absence on her birthday, and beat her daughter severely. Li Li refused to apologize, Li Meiqing became more and more angry, and her attacks became more and more ruthless, not even listening to her mother's stop. In the end, Li Guoqiang, who came back from get off work, snatched the ruler from his sister and saved Li Li.

"Does it hurt?" Li Guoqiang looked at the silent niece and asked with pity.

"Except for the face." Li Li replied in a low voice. Wearing a sweater, no matter how hard you hit it, it won't hurt very much, but the ruler's face is hot and painful.

Li Guoqiang shook his head and sighed, "Xiao Li, being too stubborn is not a good thing. If you cry a few times, your mother will soften her heart." However, this little girl has a stubborn temper, and she has a personality that is not dead until the Yellow River. She has learned the shortcomings of her parents. ten percent.

"Mom, she hates me." Li Li said the fact expressionlessly. She touched the broken skin on her face, feeling disheartened.

Li Li entered the room in the dark, got into the cold bed, and lay there motionless, crying. At the age of fourteen, the scene of Pei Shangxuan shouting "Happy Birthday" to the Huangpu River in the cold wind was deeply engraved in Li Li's soul and warmed her heart.

Pei Shangxuan took her by the hand and ran to the bakery, took out the money he had planned to play billiards, and bought a horseshoe cake for Li Li as a birthday present.

Pei Shangxuan bought a box of matches and put four on the cake as fourteenth birthday candles. He asked Li Li to make a wish, the river wind blew the faint flames on the little cake, he protected it with his hand, and asked Li Li to express his wish quickly.

Li Li closed her eyes and muttered to herself, then blew out the match in one breath before it was blown out by the wind. Pei Shangxuan breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back on the flood control wall with both hands, listening to the evening bell ringing at six o'clock in the customs building.

"What wish did you make?" He only saw her mouth moving, but couldn't hear her voice.

Li Li pulled out the matches one by one, lowered her head and said, "If you say it, it won't work."

Li Li took a bite of the cake and handed it to Pei Shangxuan. Seeing him shaking his head and refusing to eat it, she stubbornly raised her hand and said, "This is a birthday cake. If you don't share it with anyone, you will be lonely." His eyes are bright, brighter than the morning star above his head. These eyes looked at her, then he moved his head closer, opened his mouth and took a big bite, "I'm just hungry."

The wish she made is: to be friends with Pei Shangxuan for a lifetime, never to leave.

Li Li buried her head in the quilt and wept silently. She thought that if her life ended at this moment, then this beautiful boy named Pei Shangxuan would be the only warm color in her life.

On her birthday many years later, Li Li received beautiful roses, expensive gifts, and chocolate mousse cake, but what she never forgot was the horseshoe cake she ate at the Bund when she was fourteen. She can't remember the taste of the cake, but she can't forget the very happy feeling at that time.

She accompanied the company's clients to browse the night view of the Bund—the Oriental Pearl Tower and Jinmao Tower, as Shanghai's landmark buildings, dotted the Huangpu River, shining brightly. She smiled and said that one year in front of the flood control wall, a boy celebrated her birthday for herself.

“I think the cake was more deli anything else.”

"You must love him very much." The blond beauty from Germany smiled softly and spoke with absolute certainty.

She froze for a moment, remembering the warmth from him when she was fourteen years old, and replied: "Yeah."

Pei Shangxuan's first birthday celebration for a girl is Li Li. He often joked that his "first time" was given to her, and Li Li must be responsible to him.

She smiled nonchalantly. Pei Shangxuan has celebrated the birthdays of several girls in the following fifteen years, and he has long forgotten the blessing he gave when he cowered in the cold wind for the first time.

He said: "Li Li, I want you to be happy all your life and be a brave girl." The last sentence is Pei Shangxuan's translation of the lyrics of the Little Tigers. He domineeringly didn't use the word "hope", but directly used the sentence pattern of commands.

Li Li told herself to be a brave girl, but when she became an adult, she realized that a strong and courageous woman cannot attract the love and sympathy of men. Pei Shangxuan misled her with one sentence. The twenty-nine-year-old man didn't remember that when he was fourteen, he hated girls who screamed and cried when they saw cockroaches.

He grew up slowly and lost his youth. Her love began on the day of her fourteenth birthday, and she spent fifteen years waiting for him to turn around and pick up the long-term lovesickness that had been scattered all the way.

After the skin on Li Li's face scabbed, she finally met her future stepfather Liu Zhixian, and at the same time met Liu Zhixian's son—Liu Qianren who was two years older than her.

Liu Qianren is a beautiful boy with a feminine air, tall and thin, standing in front of Li Li, it makes her feel ashamed.

When they stood facing each other and greeted each other, Li Li secretly glanced at him, lamenting that God is just partial, it's really a waste for a boy to grow up so good-looking!

Liu Zhixian, who is a teacher, is a gentle and gentle man, and his smile makes people feel inexplicably at ease. Apart from her little uncle, Li Li was in contact with an adult man for the first time, and his generous demeanor unknowingly melted away her resistance. Li Li even secretly thought: No matter how you look at it, Li Meiqing is not worthy of this handsome man.

Liu Qianren, who was in the first year of high school, was the complete opposite of his father—he had dark eyes and a rebellious attitude, and he didn't say more than five sentences throughout the night. At the dinner table, Li Li was sitting opposite Liu Qianren, occasionally looking up at him, always feeling a slight chill coming out from the soles of his feet, wrapping around his whole body like a snake.

Pei Shangxuan took her to the vegetable market to see other people playing with snakes. She thought it was as interesting as fighting monkeys, so she happily followed. In the end, what I saw was a slippery snake climbing up the body of the person and coiling layers around the neck of the person.

Li Li vomited on the spot, and Pei Shangxuan wiped her mouth with a handkerchief while mocking her for being timid.

Liu Qianren feels like a snake spewing out its core, it will pounce on you at some point and bite you. She was a little apprehensive, and tried to avoid looking into his eyes, and lowered her head to gorge on the food.

The boy's gloomy gaze rested on the top of her head, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth tugged, his expression strange.

When saying goodbye, Liu Qianren stopped in front of Li Li, lowered his head and said, "I will get along well with you in the future—sister." The parents on both sides were very satisfied with his friendly performance, only Li Li saw his face full of malice smile.

She froze, speechless. On the way home, Li Meiqing blamed her for not having a tutor, so she should answer Liu Qianren anyway. Li Li lowered her head and listened silently, as if Liu Qianren's smile was replaying in her mind in slow motion—she was afraid of this young man and didn't want to have anything to do with him again, but Li Meiqing and Liu Zhixian's marriage was inevitable, and it was useless for her to object .

The next day at school, Pei Shangxuan was waiting for her at the entrance of the alley, and first asked her if Li Meiqing's marriage partner was easy to get along with. Li Li suddenly felt relieved, the entangled nightmare was far away from life. No matter what bad things happened, at least Pei Shangxuan still cared about him.

"Uncle Liu seems to be a very kind person." Her right hand was placed in Pei Shangxuan's coat pocket, and the warm hand of the young man held her hand tightly—the round and round Li Li looked healthy, but in fact she lacked energy and blood , hands are cold in winter. Pei Shangxuan accidentally found out that he volunteered to be the stove

Keep her warm.

Pei Shangxuan had a relieved expression on his face, and then his knotted brows relaxed. Li Li swallowed her evaluation of Liu Qianren, and laughed lightly.

"Are you concerned about me?" She raised her head and asked with a smile on her face.

Pei Shangxuan turned sideways and raised his right hand to rub Li Li's hair, "Silly girl, we are good friends, I don't care who else cares about you?"

The boy inadvertently told the truth that Li Li seems to have a good relationship with everyone in the class, but she has almost no real friends. It took a long time for Pei Shangxuan to realize that Li Li is actually a contradictory person, both longing for true love and instinctively resisting belief, which stems from the insecurity deep in his heart. But when he was young, he only thought that she was a picky person, and she had to be picky when choosing friends. It's not like he boldly thinks that everyone in the world is brothers, as long as they hit it off, they are friends.

She criticized his friend for being too promiscuous, and he unconvincedly accused her of being arrogant, no one could convince the other.

Li Li met Pei Shangxuan's new friends every year when the autumn wind blows—every year there will be new faces at his birthday party, both men and women. She laughed at him for having a wide range of friendships, but there are very few friendships left after the long river of time has washed away.

Of course Pei Shangxuan wanted to refute, but he was shocked to find that for so many years, only Li Li had been by his side.

When 1990 and 1991 intersected, Pei Shangxuan came home from school on December 31. Pei Shangxuan pulled Lili's slender ponytail, and wished her a happy new year with a smile on his face, so that next year he could transform from an ugly duckling into an ugly duckling. into a white swan.

Angrily, Li Li clenched his fists and chased Pei Shangxuan, who laughed and ran away quickly. In the past six months, his stature has grown rapidly, taking advantage of his tall legs and long legs. Li Li chased after him for a long time, but the distance between the two did not shorten but widened.

"Pei Shangxuan, I hate you the most!" Li Li simply stopped, panting and yelling at his back. Pei Shangxuan seemed to turn around, Li Li, who was not wearing glasses, couldn't see his reaction clearly, so she turned around and walked towards her home.

"You seem to be having a good time." Li Li was startled by the half-cold voice, and subconsciously looked at the source of the sound. Standing against the wall was a tall and thin boy, wearing a beige plaid coat, with half-length hair and a pretty face.

The cold and slippery feeling wrapped around her body again, and Li Li couldn't help but take a small step back—only then did she remember that when she went out in the morning, she had heard Li Meiqing say that she would invite Liu Zhixian and his son to dinner at home in the evening.

"Didn't you find my house?" Li Li lowered her head and spoke quickly, "I'll take you there."

"Boring—I just came out." Liu Qianren smiled, put one hand on Li Li's shoulder, and obviously felt Li Li's body stiffen. The smile on his face deepened, "Are you afraid of me, sister?"

The evil and handsome face approached Li Li, and the malicious smile suddenly magnified several times in front of her eyes. She instinctively resisted his approach.

"You reject my kindness like this, my brother is very sad." The scorching eyes and the words uttered from the thin lips with sharp lines are completely different - panicked she saw disgust in those eyes.

"Let her go!" The familiar voice made Li Li heave a sigh of relief, and quickly looked up at the savior. Pei Shangxuan was half a head shorter than Liu Qianren, but he did not show any weakness in his imposing manner.

Liu Qianren let go of the hand that was holding her shoulder, and put it back into his pocket as if nothing had happened. He said disdainfully, "I didn't expect you to have a flower protector at a young age. As expected, like a mother, like a daughter."

"What did you say?" Seeing Li Li's face turning pale, Pei Shangxuan felt that the other party's words must be very vicious. He rushed forward and grabbed Qian Ren by the collar, but unfortunately the difference in height made his threat very unconvincing.

"Don't you understand?" Liu Qianren smiled contemptuously, "It's normal for a guy like you who can only use violence if he doesn't understand."

Pei Shangxuan was in a hurry, he raised his fist and wanted to punch this very displeased little boy, but Li Li held his hand.

"Pei Shangxuan, he is Uncle Liu's son, you can't beat him." She yelled anxiously. Liu Qianren doesn't look like a character to provoke, Pei Shangxuan may not be able to gain the upper hand.

Liu Qianren opened Pei Shangxuan's fingers, looked coldly at the boy who was two years younger than him, then turned his cold gaze to Li Li, "You better remember, I hate your mother, including you."

Pei Shangxuan looked at Liu Qianren's back, turned his head to look at Li Li, and said angrily: "I'm sure, I hate him."

Many years later, even though he forgot about this past, Pei Shangxuan still hated this handsome man named Liu Qianren.

Li Meiqing and Liu Zhixian registered their marriage on New Year's Eve. February 14th coincided with New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day in the West, so they got their marriage certificate before the Civil Affairs Bureau got off work. Li Li heard about Li Meiqing's marriage plan from Li Guoqiang, and she was always worried that she would move to Liu's house with her mother to live with the boy who made her afraid. a title.

Li Fengzhu, the head teacher, called Li Li to the office, and asked insincerely whether her decline in grades was related to Pei Shangxuan. There were rumors about the two of them circulating in the school a while ago, and Li Fengzhu almost didn't laugh when he heard it. She joked with other teachers in the office, saying that if Li Li was half as beautiful as Qiu Yuerong, the study committee member, it would be worth noting whether they would have a tendency to fall in love early.

The decline in Li Li's grades made Li Fengzhu have to face up to this problem. More than once, the teacher told her that Pei Shangxuan pestered Li Li to chat in class, and the two had a close attitude. Before taking over the fourth class, Li Fengzhu knew Li Li's name, including the resignation incident. Years of experience in teaching and educating people let her see that this girl is doing her own way in her bones, obedience is only on the surface, and her heart is absolutely egoistic.

Such students, on the contrary, make the teacher even more headache. You can't control her, and she won't let you guess when she decides to resist.

Li Fengzhu said earnestly: "Li Li, the teacher has high expectations for you, and I don't want even you to be affected by poor students."

Li Li raised her chin slightly, then retracted it quickly, bowing her head in deep reflection. Li Fengzhu only saw the light brown hair on top of her head, but couldn't see her expression.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Li, I promise that I will regain the first place in the next exam." She lowered her head and smiled conceitedly, "This time I lost Jingzhou carelessly, and it has nothing to do with anyone else, especially Pei Shangxuan."

Li Fengzhu was not satisfied after hearing these words, she obviously interpreted that Li Li was trying to excuse that bad student Pei Shangxuan, and made up her mind to rearrange the seats.

Li Li secretly looked at the dignified expression of the head teacher, and had a premonition that the relationship between her and Pei Shangxuan at the same table was about to end. She was a little disappointed, and at the same time felt unwilling.

"Ms. Li, Pei Shangxuan and I are good friends. I hope he can make progress with me." She expressed her opinion tactfully.

I don't know whether Li Fengzhu checked Pei Shangxuan's grades and found that he has improved, or he made a compromise on Li Li's part. Anyway, when school starts again after the winter vacation, Pei Shangxuan and Li Li are still at the same table.

Li Li didn't move with Li Meiqing to her stepfather Liu Zhixian's place, and she stayed at her grandmother's house throughout the winter vacation except for New Year's Day. The Liu family lived in a public house, and Liu Qianren had her own room, so even if Li Li wanted to move there, there was no room for her.

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Liu Zhixian apologized for breaking up their mother and daughter, Li Li thought this man is really a good person, she kept saying "it's okay", hoping he doesn't mind. she

The relationship with Li Meiqing is not as close as Liu Zhixian saw. What's more, with Liu Qianren around, she only had the idea of keeping a respectful distance.

Li Li felt a pair of dark eyes watching her from the corner, she turned her face to avoid Liu Qianren's sight.

After the winter vacation, a super-beautiful girl named Han Yichen transferred to Class 4. The moment Li Fengzhu took her into the classroom, the whole class let out a collective "wow".

Han Yichen stood gracefully on the podium—the beautiful girl naturally knew her strengths, and she held her head up confidently wherever she went. She introduced herself that she changed schools because of moving, and hoped to integrate into the group soon.

Li Li applauded as a routine to welcome new students to join, and at the same time, she noticed the focused eyes of her deskmate Pei Shangxuan. There was an inexplicable sourness in her heart.

In just half a day, that is, after four classes in the morning, Han Yichen's name has spread throughout the school. The number of people who flocked to the gate of class 4 of the second grade of junior high school to see the beauties was as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river. Li Li almost thought that all the boys in the school had come to admire the beauty's appearance. She secretly thought that she should set up a booth at the entrance of the class, and charge a visit fee of 50 cents per person.

The group of beauties in the fourth class felt unprecedented threats, so several people who were usually at odds with each other gathered together and whispered to Han Yichen who had a beautiful face. Seeing this scene, Pei Shangxuan sneered at the horror of the woman's jealousy. While speaking, his eyes lingered on Han Yichen behind him.

Li Li suddenly realized the fact that one day Pei Shangxuan would like a certain girl and alienate him.

Do the so-called forever friends really exist

The atmosphere in the class is becoming more and more subtle, from the original intrigue to two distinct factions. Under Li Li's careless guidance, monitor Wu Lina formed an alliance with several beautiful girls who were also robbed of the limelight, and they entered and exited together to create a multiplied beauty effect.

Li Li originally watched the good show with the mentality of staying out of it, but Pei Shangxuan's eyes on Han Yichen made her feel uncomfortable, as if there was a thorn poking at it all the time. So at noon, when Li Li heard Wu Lina and Qiu Yuerong arguing about Han Yichen's rights and wrongs in the toilet, she pretended to say unintentionally: "One person can't compare, and I'm afraid I can't hold back her limelight if I double it." ?”

Sure enough, the alliance of beauties succeeded in attracting more heads, and all kinds of ostracism against Han Yichen died down for the time being. But Li Li still couldn't be happy, because Pei Shangxuan looked back at Han Yichen more and more times.

"You like her?" Li Li asked straight to the point on the way home two weeks later.

Pei Shangxuan blushed uncomfortably, pretending to be puzzled, "Who are you talking about?"

"Stop pretending." Li Li snorted, "Sima Zhao's heart is known to everyone. You look back at Han Yichen every class, much more seriously than you look at the teacher."

"I'm not looking at her." The young man quibbled, denying it to the death. Facing Li Li's knowing expression, Pei Shangxuan excused himself, "Even if she glanced twice, it was time for her to answer the question."

"Oh, really?" Li Li tilted her head and grinned inscrutably, "Pei Shangxuan, why didn't you look at me when I was answering the question?"

Hearing Li Li's words, the young man's handsome face immediately flushed red, and he simply admitted frankly from embarrassment, "Yes, yes, I just like Han Yichen, can I? I want you to meddle in my own business!"

Li Li's chest suddenly felt tight, as if someone had punched her in the chest. Hearing Pei Shangxuan personally say that he likes Han Yichen, even if she was mentally prepared, it was still hard to accept it. She thought of the scene where her little uncle gave Yan Liming the chicken wings, and she felt sorry for her—the love that belongs to her temporarily, once she finds it A real master would turn to another direction without hesitation, right

Li Li tried her best to smile, never letting Pei Shangxuan see how sad she was.

For Pei Shangxuan, Han Yichen is the one who makes young people fall in love. Many years passed, and he believed in Li Li's conclusion: Boys will not truly mature until they have longing for the opposite sex.

He always remembered the faint smile on Han Yichen's face when he stood in front of the podium and introduced himself. Her soft and delicate facial features are inlaid on her palm-sized face, and the fine bangs on her forehead make her face look like a heart. She smiled subtly, her eyebrows and eyes curved into a fascinating arc, and Pei Shangxuan's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

There are not many beautiful girls in the class, and he thinks they are nothing more than that after watching for a long time, but Han Yichen is very attractive. At least she had been around for a few weeks, and he hadn't gotten tired of the little heart-shaped face.

Han Yichen is a shrewd girl, even though most girls don't like her, she still comes to school with a sweet and friendly smile every day. The beautiful girl's defiant and arrogant habit can't find the slightest trace on her body, and it gradually makes people feel close. Li Li watched her calmly buy people's hearts from the sidelines, and was inexplicably worried about Pei Shangxuan's future—it would be very difficult for this clumsy guy to like girls with scheming plans.

Li Li doesn't want Han Yichen to intervene in her life, no matter how the girls in the class fight openly and secretly, it has nothing to do with her. Li Guoqiang is right in saying that not being good-looking is a congenital deficiency, and trying to make oneself a useful person is an acquired result. God will not always treat the same person badly. The statement in more poetic words is: God closed the door, but A window will be opened for you. Beautiful girls have their die-hard supporters, but Li Li, who is not beautiful but has one of the best grades, has the support of teachers behind her, and no one dares to deliberately embarrass her.

Li Li is a delicate person who understands that middle school is just a small post in life. She laughed off the innocuous pranks, even if she was called an "ugly monster" by a boy, she shed two tears and felt sorry for her appearance for a while, unless it really made her feel the need to fight back, she would take action.

Pei Shangxuan doesn't really know Li Li, but he knows that this good friend's status in the class is actually very important. After all, every exam, everyone has to rely on Li Li's detailed notes to help review, and sometimes rely on her to guess the questions.

April is the season when the cherry blossoms on the campus are in full bloom, and clusters of pink and white are crowded on the branches. Pei Shangxuan went to Li Li's house early in the morning and dragged her to school together.

"What's so mysterious?" Li Li asked while eating fried dough sticks.

Pei Shangxuan pulled her braid and said solemnly: "Can I ask you a favor?"

It was rare to see him look so serious, Li Li became interested, quickly swallowed the fried dough sticks, and swallowed his saliva, "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Being friends with Han Yichen, okay?" Pei Shangxuan looked at Li Li expectantly.

Li Li turned her head sideways with a strange expression. She looked Pei Shangxuan up and down several times before she spoke, "Isn't today April Fool's Day?"

"You think I'm joking!" Pei Shangxuan was dissatisfied with her reaction and yelled.

It was only then that Li Li believed that he was seriously begging him. The heavy depression accumulated in her chest made her eyes sting. Li Li smiled reluctantly, "Pei Shangxuan, do you want me to side with Han Yichen?" Contradictions became an open secret, and even Li Fengzhu warned some people not to engage in small groups to split the class at the class meeting.

Pei Shangxuan nodded, hooked Li Li's shoulder and patted hard a few times, "You are my good friend, the person I like, of course you should like it too."

At this time, Pei Shangxuan never thought that someone would tell him in the future that his request was not only unreasonable, but also extremely cruel.